A COMPARATIVE STUDY OF BIODIESEL PRODUCTION FROM SCREW PINE FRUIT SEED: USING ULTRASOUND AND MICROWAVE ASSISTANCE IN IN-SITU TRANSESTERIFICATION

The main purpose of this research was the production of biodiesel from screw pine fruit seed (SPFS) oil as a new biodiesel feed-stock using in-situ transesterification with the assistance of microwave and ultrasound. The effect of independent variable such as the SPFS oil to methanol ratio, reaction time, catalyst concentration and temperature were investigated and compared the results of both methods. The physicochemical parameters of the biodiesel, such as kinematic viscosity, density and acid value were analysed using the EN 14214-2003 standard. The fatty acid methyl ester composition was identified using GC-MS. The experimental results with 25: 1 w/w ratio of methanol to the SPFS oil, 1:1 w/w ratio of methanol to chloroform, 5% KOH, 50 rpm stirring and 65 degrees C reaction temperature showed that the maximum conversion efficiency was approximately 88.12% for the assistance of microwave with 4-min reaction time and 450W microwave power, and it was approximately 86.38% for the assistance of ultrasound with 80-min reaction time, 37 kHz ultrasound. The physicochemical properties to the EN 14214-2003 standard, except for the acid value. Meanwhile, the GC-MS analysis identified five major fatty acid esters in the biodiesel.